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Like Timbaland and the Neptunes before him, though, Rudolf's behind-the-scenes work only whetted his limelight appetite, so here he steps out with a weirdly infectious debut that mixes his rap-track know-how with his love of guitar-god theatrics.
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In the City gets by on hooks and hugeness, like an irony-free Andrew W.K., Timbaland working with Aerosmith, or a jaded version of the Jonas Brothers now willing to drop the F-bomb.
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In the City offers good production, excellent melodies, and - of course - the same song, idea(s), and kinds of guest appearances many times over.
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Though Rudolf sandwiches together rock, R&B and hip-hop like an up-to-the-minute genre-bender, at heart he loves his guitar and the soft-rock noises it makes. He's at his most natural on the winsome I Song and Scarred.
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Q MagazineRudolf's sound is his own on an album full of scarf-waving choruses, insistent hooks and surprisingly reflective lyrics. [Mar 2009, p.104]
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The rest of Rudolf's self-produced debut is a middling rock record dressed up in sleek digital clothes.
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Pop and R&B backroom boy steps into the spotlight.
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He has some solid ideas and keen sense of production; the problem is that his solo songs, by and large, suffer from a frightening lack of creativity and a remarkably shallow lyrical outlook.
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In the City is proof that you can co-opt the most retarded aspects of 80s corporate rock and still not be any fun.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 2 out of 7
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EdijsG.Feb 8, 2009